Batsworthy Cross Pre-Inquiry

I went to the Pre-Inquiry meeting today at Bishops Nympton Village Hall. It was a beautiful day, sunny but fresh, with little wind. I took the X7 bus from Barnstaple to South Molton and walked the rest of the way, maybe three or four miles, along tiny lanes, with bridges over streams, sheep and lambs grazing in fields beside the road and the roadside banks studded with primroses and daffodils, or wood anemones when the road skirted its way around some woods (as in this photograph.)

At the meeting last June, when North Devon District Council's Planning Committee unanimously turned down Npower's wind farm proposal, Bishop's Nympton Village Hall was full to bursting with local opponents of the proposal.

Last June, the only supporters that Npower could find were a few members of the North Devon Green party, none of whom live anywhere near Batsworthy Cross. For the Public Inquiry, one of the North Devon Green Party Members, Rosemary Brian, who lives in the Croyde/Georgeham area, some 25 miles away, has set up a Rule 6 Party called "Friends of Batsworthy Cross."

This hardly seems a friendly name to choose. A true friend listens, and does not impose. Yet again today, the people of the area around Batsworthy Cross filled the hall and made it abundantly clear how much they oppose the idea of having giant industrial turbines imposed upon them.

At the meeting, Rosemary Brian asked if the Public Inquiry could be held in Barnstaple, as Bishop's Nympton was difficult to travel to by public transport. I felt like standing up to say that I had come by bus myself part of the way, and enjoyed the ride, but to be fair, there are some steep hills between South Molton and Bishop's Nympton, and it would have been hard work with boxes of documents to carry as well.

Sensibly the Inspector decided that Bishop's Nympton Village Hall was to remain the venue.

TREA, The Rural Exmoor Alliance (TREA is CPRE Devon, the Exmoor Society, the Two Moors Campaign and several local parish councils) invited Npower to put up a blimp for the site visit. Npower refused this invitation.

The Public Inquiry will last four weeks, and begin on June 12th.

Two Moors Campaign website Relaunched

Near Batsworthy Cross, January 2006

The battle goes on in this area near Exmoor where campaigners have fought off two previous applications (at other nearby locations). Yet again the campaigners win and planning is refused, and yet again the developers appeal.

The proposal for 9 wind turbines at Batsworthy Cross near Exmoor was turned down unanimously at the Planning Meeting this summer - all 16 Councillors on the North Devon Planning Committee voted against it. The Hall where the meeting was held was bursting at the seams with local people who came to speak against the proposal. Not one local person spoke in favour of the wind farm, and yet the developers persist in their plans to impose their unwanted development upon the people of North Devon.

Npower appeal

Npower have appealed against
North Devon District Council's decision on Batsworthy Cross.

At the fanatastically supported meeting at Bishops Nympton last May,
NDDC unanimously refused planning permission for npowers proposal
to build 9 x 103m tall wind turbines at Batsworthy Cross.

Npower have now challenged this decision.
This means there will be a Public Inquiry as there was for Bickham Moor and Three Moors.

And just in the last twenty four hours, on BBC Spotlight, Merlin Hyman said there wouldn't be more large onshore wind farms in the region. What does "large" mean, then?

Safe for now!

Starlings settling in the field where Npower planned to put nine 103m high turbines, on a ridge with views of Exmoor close by, and Dartmoor to the South.

North Devon Council Planning Committee met yesterday at Bishops Nympton Village Hall to decide upon Npower's application for nine wind turbines at Batsworthy Cross. The hall was packed to overflowing with locals, and the meeting took many hours as local after local after local spoke against this proposal. One after another, they covered each relevant topic in detail, demonstrating a breadth and depth of knowledge that must have impressed the Councillors.
There was emotion too, as many spoke of their love for the countryside in which they live.
From an artistic perspective, an important point was by a well-known local artist about the way in which wind turbines affect our sense of scale when looking at a landscape.
No local people at all (as far as I know) spoke in support of the proposed wind farm. One interesting speaker said that he had been asked to speak in support of the Proposal (by the Green Party or the Developers, I am not quite sure) because of his expertise in renewables, but having looked at the proposal, he changed his mind and urged the Committee to refuse the application!

This article by Martin Hesp was in yesterday's Western Morning News:
http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/Today-decision-day-wind-farm-battle/story-12811375-detail/story.html

This article by Andy Keeble was in yesterdays' North Devon Gazette:
http://www.northdevongazette.co.uk/news/decision_day_for_giant_wind_farm_1_928748